According to surveys Digitimes Research conducted in China in March 2018, shipments of smartphone application processors (AP) in China will show a rebound in the second quarter of 2018.

Taiwan makers' notebook shipments in the first quarter of 2018 performed weaker than originally expected, slipping 17.1% sequentially and 7.4% on year to reach only 27.07 million units.

According to Digitimes Research statistics, global tablet shipments hit an all-time low in first-quarter 2018, totaling 33 million units, down 28.2% on quarter and 14.9% on year.

Digitimes Research's study of the smartphone supply chain and market in China shows that first-quarter 2018 smartphone shipments to the China market fell below 90 million units, down 34% on quarter and 13.4% on year due to a number of reasons.

Digitimes Research figures show that global server shipments totaled 3.4 million units (calculated based on motherboards) in first-quarter 2018, registering only a mild drop, thanks to weak seasonal impact during the traditional low season. Looking forward into second-quarter 2018, global server shipments are expected to show a 9% sequential increase with the market entering high season.

Worldwide server shipments reached 3.66 million units (based on motherboards shipped) in the fourth quarter of 2017, accounting for more than a quarter of the annual volumes in 2017 mainly thanks to peak season effect.

Digitimes Research estimates total shipments of smartphone application processors (AP) worldwide will grow 1.5% on year to 1.67 billion units in 2018. The slowing growth in the smartphone market means global smartphone AP shipments will only grow at a mild pace in the next few years, reaching 1.77 billion units in 2021. The report shows that Qualcomm will continue reigning at No. 1 in terms of vendor rankings in 2018, followed by MediaTek. But in-house-developed chips by Apple, Samsung, and Huawei (Hisilicon) will see their share of shipments grow to almost 30% in 2018.

Taiwan's handset shipments grew significantly in 2017 because of strong orders from HMD Global for Nokia-branded devices. HMD's manufacturing partner, Foxconn, benefited most.

Based on surveys Digitimes Research conducted in China in December 2017, shipments of smartphone application processors (AP) to the China market in 2017 were able to maintain positive growth. However, shipments in the first quarter of 2018 are expected to decline 18.2% from the level seen in the fourth quarter of 2017.

China-based smartphone vendors shipped a total of 199.8 million phones to both the domestic and overseas markets in the fourth quarter of 2017, up nearly 10% on quarter but only showing a single digit growth from the corresponding period of 2016.

Worldwide notebook shipments, not including detachable 2-in-1 devices, were weaker than expected and arrived at only around 41.15 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, registering their first on-year decline after four consecutive quarters of on-year growths. However, Digitimes Research expects worldwide notebook shipments to return to the on-year growth trend in the first quarter of 2018, fueled by new Chromebooks, the China gaming market, and recovery of enterprise demand.

In 2018, global server shipments will grow 8.5% to reach 13.73 million units. Digitimes Research estimates server shipments worldwide will grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during the period 2017-2022, with growth mainly driven by large-scale data centers and the China market.